Rule Britannia: UK is Now World's #1 Offshore Wind Power Producer

With the completion of a new 194 MW wind farm off the coast of Skegness, Lincolnshire the United Kingdom has overtaken Denmark to claim the offshore wind power capacity crown. The new installation brings the UK’s total offshore wind capacity to 590 MW, which is approximately enough electric generating capacity for 300,000 homes. Denmark currently has 423 MW of offshore wind power capacity.

Offshore wind power in the UK is set to keep growing however:Nearly 1 Gigawatt More By End of 2009The Guardian quotes a minister at the Department of Energy and Climate Change as saying that by the end of 2009, a further 938 MW of offshore wind power capacity will be added from projects already under construction. Further along in 2012, the London Array will add another 1000 MW of capacity.

No Time To Rest on LaurelsWhile this is certainly good news, it has not stopped Friends of the Earth from rightly pointing out that the UK still places near the bottom of the list in terms of total renewable energy use as compared to other European nations. FOE’s Nick Rau said,

The government must stop trying to wriggle out of European green energy targets and put a massive effort into making renewable power the number one source of energy in the UK. The UK has one of the biggest renewable energy potentials in Europe—this must be harnessed to make this country a world leader in tacking climate change.

Of the UK’s total 3 GW of total wind power capacity, only 20% of that comes from offshore installations.